To All the Beautiful Black Women
A Tapestry Poem
They say
You are
Far too dark
Sometimes too light
Unkempt hair
Everywhere
Features so . . .
Exotic?
Too fat
Too thin
Invisible
Missed by
No one
Not even
A ravenous media
You’re too
Colorful, loud
Overly proud
Angry
Destructive
Sexy
Seductive
Lazy
Crazy
An evil temptress
Get up
Off that mattress
Why did you
Have that baby
Without money
Without sanity
Without even
A baby daddy
Did I say
Angry?
Not good enough
Not pretty enough
Not smart enough
Not white enough
Not subservient
Enough
Put your
Black
Hand
Down
You dream
Of dreaming
Sometimes you
Cannot
Hope
For hope
You pray
(To whom?)
To be loved
To be worthy
To be seen and heard
In the white man’s
Whitewashed
Universe
But late at night
Wrapped in the
Embrace of darkness
You sense the history
The power, the virtue
Running through you
Aminatu
Makeda
Nefertiti
The Virgin Mary
Lineage of royalty
First earthly queens
You are
The genius
Of tracing the stars
Katherine, Mary,
Dorothy and Mae
Brilliance of
Bettye W. Greene
Jane C. Wright and
So many more
You are
Serena’s strength
The fleetness of Allyson
Drive of Simone
Harriet’s valor
You are
The unrelenting
Truth of Ava
The stories
Of Toni
The poems
Of Maya
Respect of Aretha
Talent
Of Shonda
Voice
Of Tarana
Black girl joy
Of Zora
You hold
The heart and soul
Of everyblackwoman
And then some
You are special
You are beautiful
You are
The seeds
The seedlings
The roots
The history
The future of humanity
Originally published in 2020
